Discussions

Struts is a servlet/jsp presentation layer framework based on the Model-View-Controller pattern. Presentation layers are perhaps the most tedious and least standardized part of server side development. Luckily, frameworks like Struts exist that promote standardization and best practices in presentation layer programming.

An article from developerWorks introduces Struts and describes how to use it.

WebWork is a web application framework for J2EE. Initially developed by Rickard Oberg, it is based on a concept called "Pull HMVC" (Pull Hierarchical Model View Controller). The basic idea is to separate the site programmers' and site designers' tasks, which leads to big productivity gains, flexible and easy development. It is well-documented, comes with lots of examples, very stable, continually tested against WebLogic, Tomcat, Resin, Jetty-JBoss, Tomcat-JBoss, Orion. With its advanced design, small and easy-to-learn API, WebWork offers significant development advantages over similar frameworks like: STRUTS, XMLC, Turbine/Webmacro, Cocoon ... But don't take my word fot it - go get it (www.sourceforge.net/projetcs/webwork), read the documentation, try the examples and contact "webwork- user at lists dot sourceforge dot net" if you need more help/info!

It's a total alternative to JSPs and does a whole lot more besides. It's a complete, component based framework for developing highly interactive, dynamic web applications with minimal coding. I may be biased (I am the principal author) but I strongly feel you can do more powerful applications easier in Tapestry than in just about any other environment.

Could someone please add a useful unbiased reply comparing frameworks? If you want to do a plug could you please also add some clear, direct advantages/comparisons over others. In my case I am looking for some reasons why I shouldn't go forward with Struts. I would love to read opinions from people who have tried writing commercial applications with some of these frameworks (namely Struts and WebWork).

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